John 1. While there is so much good stuff in this chapter, Jesus’ calling of the 1st disciples really stood out to me.
In verse 38, two of John’s disciples saw Jesus and inquired where he was staying. Jesus responds in verse 39 by saying, “Come and you will see.”. Now, although this may sound simple, the insight that stuck out to me was that Jesus invited them to come and see. He didn’t just wait around for them to ask him to follow him. He invited them to come with him.
This is the basis for our ministry. As Student Ministers we cannot expect teens to come up to us and want to hang out with us, to invite themselves into our lives. We have to model what Jesus did and invite them to come and be apart of our lives. It is then that relationships can start and their lives can be transformed by the power of Christ. We cannot wait for students, we have to take the initiative, as Christ did.
But the story doesn’t end there! Andrew, one of the two who followed Jesus that day, went back to his friends and started spreading the word. He came up to Nathanael and told him they have found the Christ. When Nathanael asked if anything good could come out of Nazareth, Phillip responded by saying, “come and see” (v. 46). He invited his friends whom Jesus did not know at the time to come and experience Christ.
I think it is all our hopes as Student Ministers that as we hang with students, share Christ with them (both verbally and through out actions), they will go off to their friends and encourage them to “come and see”. But unless we are inviting students to come and see first, how can we expect students to invite their friends to come and see?
The application for us is to be intentionally inviting students to come and see; to come and be apart of our lives so that Christ may be proclaimed and impact them. Then, as their lives are changed, they may be able to invite their friends to come and see.
Christ changed the world by drawing people to him. He didn’t wait for others to wait and see how cool he was. He invited them to come and see. We can make an impact as well in our communities by relationally inviting students to come and see the greatness of Christ in our lives.
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